Peace on Earth: B Flat
by Dixon Oriole
Summary: Post everything, near future. Unseasonal Christmasfic. In which the Bladebreakers know some things about Kai, Kai is harried, and Tala is poorly adjusted. Rated for swearing.


_Disclaimer:_ Thanks for inventing beyblade, Mr. Aoki Takao. If you want this, it's yours. I claim nothing but the right to fan it up all over this place.

Peace on Earth: B Flat

By Dixon Oriole

It was kind of hard _not_ to notice Christmas happening in Bey City, but Kai was trying his best.

At least he kept his blinds shut when holed up in his storage-room-sized apartment and, when not holed up, absolutely refused to acknowledge the garish displays every three feet or less (the approximate distance between corporate buildings and stores and restaurants) comprised mainly of massive shining hearts and teddy bears and blinking white, red, and rainbow colored lights. He ignored the advertisements in bakery windows for Christmas cakes, and Santa Clause making inexplicable pitches on behalf of KFC, and signs imploring he BUY PRESENTS HERE, or there, or there, for his loved ones.

Kai lay on his floor in the semi-darkness, staring at the ceiling, and tried his best not to notice his loved ones. But they were knocking on his door, and caroling. They were standing outside his door, on the ice-incrusted fire-escape landing, fucking caroling.

No reaction could have been violent enough, so Kai opted not to react.

It was his overall philosophy for the holiday season. Unfortunately Tala was glaring at him from his place sprawled across the too-short-couch in the room, ankles propped in open air, neck uncomfortably propped against an armrest, and Kai could _feel_ the discontent. And when Tala wasn't happy the world had to hear about it, typically in bruises and broken bones.

Tala had been woken up by this cacophony, this irreverent laughter and grossly unpracticed and ad-libbed singing and was that barking? And _pounding _dear GOD he already had a headache. So he glared at Kai.

But Kai had rolled away towards the wall, cocooned in a blanket, ears covered by a hastily turbaned coat, so just for good measure, because he wasn't so very good at ignoring things that pissed him off, Tala snarled, "If you don't get that fucking door I will go out there and push them down the stairs."

And then he added, more calmly, because he could see Kai considering that a favor, "And then I will throw you out with them."

It was the calm of Tala's promise-voice that finally moved Kai to action.

He sat up, cast the blanket and coat into a rumpled heap in the corner where he'd likely later curl back up with them (once this had been _dealt with_), and crawled to his feet without so much as looking at Tala. Kai was, after all, very good at ignoring the things that he couldn't have reacted violently _enough_ to.

But he supposed in this instance, in the case of Tyson and the incorrigible Bladebreakers, he could muster a sustainable level of violence.

Kai crossed to the window behind the couch, smacked his shin on the sharp-edged coffee table in the way and hardly grunted acknowledgment, leaned over and poked open two slats of the tightly drawn blinds for a look at the street below.

The glass was colder than the room, but not by much. Fuck the poor insulation and finicky heater, Kai thought as he gazed down at Hilary, Kenny, and Daichi in the street. FUCK them hard.

Tala stared up at him, completely static except for his gradually sharpening eyes and deepening frown, the rest of his body wrapped in a brown woolen blanket from neck to knee. From blanket to chin he wore a scarf. From knee to shin he wore leg-warmers over jeans. From the shin down Tala was wearing a pair of enormous snow boots outfitted with the kind of cleats that absolutely forbid slippage. And Kai had reason to believe that beneath the blanket Tala was in an equal state of fully dressed. Exactly the same as when he'd been met at the airport, and they'd walked back together in general silence, refusing to notice the Reason for the Season.

_Exactly _the same as when they'd sat in general silence for approximately ten minutes, and then Kai had found each of them a blanket stacked in the closet, informed Tala that he was going to sleep, and made himself comfortable on the floor towards that purpose. Still pissy and uptight and only as comfortable as he _ever _was, which was not at all. And Kai only as comfortable as one could be when one's guest has a habit of kicking at the slightest provocation and is still wearing _cleats_.

He leaned away. Tala's glare softened marginally.

"My threat still stands, Kai."

Kai heaved a noiseless sigh and turned, wincing a little when a jarring thwack echoed against the glass behind him, where his face had recently appeared, because Daichi had finished packing that snowball he'd been working on and launched it with the usual precision aim. Kai smacked his shin on the coffee table again and ignored it. There were more important things.

Because before him, so many unpleasant noises issued from behind that door, not the least of which Tyson cheering Daichi's enterprises to annoy the living crap out of Mr. Grouchy-pants, and Max wailing Jingle Bells at a note liken to B flat. Something flat. Accompanied by Hilary, who was possibly even flatter, alongside a chorus of Kenny chattering fearfully as ever and was that _barking_? And also the sound of Rei laughing, rather than suggesting they back the hell off and let sleeping Hiwatari's lie.

He hesitated with a hand on the chain-lock, feeling the draft on his toes. Fuck them so hard.

Kai yanked the door open and Tyson, who'd apparently been leaning on it trying to look through the taped-over peep hole, fell with a yelp across the doorstep. Onto Kai's bare feet. Along with a flurry of snowflakes.

Kai hastily stepped backwards away from the incoming wind and Tyson and sounds of cheering from every single one of the Bladebreakers except Kenny and in addition to Daichi and _barking_. And he could only stand there frowning betrayal at Rei. But Rei wasn't apologetic in the slightest and grinned and shrugged, teeth flashing sharp as he said, "You were going to leave us out here, weren't you!"

"Of course he wasn't! Kai loves us; we make his holidays merry and bright," Max mock-sniffled—and then pitched forwards with a cry of alarm, and Kai assumed he had slipped on the icy fucking fire-escape and filled with the _hate _that usually accompanied his dutiful Acts as Team Captain, Kai caught him. At which point Max took the opportunity to lock his arms around Kai's waist and press a rosy cheek against Kai's chest and Kai was very much aware that he'd been tricked. Particularly when Max refused to let go, and everybody was laughing triumph and by GOD he loathed them.

He let them know by stomping on Tyson, who'd progressed from lying on his feet to clinging to his legs like a three year old, and demanding in a vicious tone of voice he hoped they'd not yet grown immune to, "OFF of me."

Kai felt them all looking at each other, perhaps communicating telepathically, and had time enough only to narrow his eyes before Tyson and Max, with their apparently hil_ar_ious choke-hold on the trunk of his body, wheeled him back inside his apartment and propelled him towards the couch.

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch," Rei sniggered, strolling in after them. Kai landed rather painfully, sitting on the coffee table, when the edge collided with the back of his calves and folded his legs out from under him.

He swore appropriately and resorted to brute force in dealing with Tyson and Max, more or less grabbing them by whatever body part gave him the most leverage and flinging them away as howling, somersaulting balls mostly made of fluffy winter clothing. "What the hell do you _want_?" Kai seethed, and then turned, noticing the sharp points of Tala's cleats pressed into the small of his back. Tala sitting practically _languid_ behind him with his legs crossed on top of the table, blanket neatly folded alongside, just smiling oh, so, scornfully.

"I hate you," Kai said to nobody in particular and all of them at once.

Maybe they didn't hear, or maybe they didn't care—"Jeeze, Kai, do you ever turn on a light in here? It's always so _dank _and _miserable_, dude, you might as well live in a dunge…eon…"—In any case Tala was the new point of interest and Kai was glad for the distraction. It gave him a moment to stand and brush himself off and try to recover some freaking dignity.

"I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE HERE, DUDE," Tyson yelled, on the corner of the couch leaning almost into Tala's lap as though trying to stare close enough and determine that he was REAL. Rei and Max were in almost identical states of shock, but stood by, not as bold about this turn of events as Tyson. They'd noticed the cleats. As for the Kinomiya he'd have poked or pinched but when he tried Tala grabbed his wrist in one set of long white fingers and with the other set pushed Tyson's forehead and sent him crashing to the floor.

"Hello, Tyson." Tala sounded reserved but almost pleasant and Kai shot him the most suspicious look of the evening. Tala smiled back—oh so scornfully. But then turned a different smile on Tyson, who still sat on the floor staring up at him like he was a Christmas Fucking Miracle.

Tala glanced at the gold and red tinseled streamer-_thing _wreathed around Tyson's neck in place of a scarf. "I just got in a few hours ago. It was long flight to get here; I was tired. You woke me." Then he glanced up, inviting Rei and Max on the guilt-trip.

Kai cut them off before they could stumble over each other to apologize and pretend politeness and/or tact was a forte of theirs. "Don't worry, Tala, they only meant to make _me _miserable. They had no intention of inconveniencing _you_."

Kai sneered and headed for the wide-open door, still allowing flurries inside, because the fire-escape was clanging again with two more sets of feet as Hilary and Daichi headed up and at dangerous speed—"SLOW DOWN," he warned them, a little manically, "YOU'LL KILL YOURSELVES AND I'M NOT CALLING AN AMBULANCE."

Tala's mouth curled into a long, sour grin. "Well… hadn't thought so."

"How ARE you—" Rei, Tyson, and Max began all at once—until Rei and Max predictably bowed back, cheerful again, and let the speed-babbling Tyson take the reigns, "Are you staying for long, are you staying _here_, has he been making you sleep on this godawful couch oh MAN, Tal, you know Kai isn't hospitable at all you should have called me we have like twenty-eight futons at the dojo just for this kind of thing"—Rei and Max nodding affirmation—"and our kitchen is freaking full of stuff"—Rei and Max, nodding affirmation—"and you _know _Kai has like nothing because he eats like… nothing ooh please stay with me it'll be the best time ever we're celebrating like every freaking holiday including Christmas because tonight is Christmas Eve did you know, it is, and stay until New Years!

"Duuuude, you have to come to Maxie's house with all of us tonight! I don't care how tired you are! No excuses! On the way I'll buy you hot chocolate and Pocky!"

"Best combination ever," Max said, now settled cross-legged on the coffee table, encouraged by the way Tala's expression had morphed into some semblance of 'polite interest'.

Rei nodded approval as well, gone to inspect Kai's cupboards and see if they were, indeed, bare. Well… there seemed to be some cat food. And—fish food? Rei scanned the room quizzically… He did not see any fish. Maybe their water had frozen.

Kai, from his post by the door, looked over his shoulder at Tala's face. He was satisfied to see that smile gone a little plastic, but when Tala felt Kai looking he redoubled his efforts at appearing to care. "You _know_, Tyson—"

Kai, anticipating the chaos of the next few seconds, side-stepped Daichi hurling himself over the stoop. Into the room towards Tala. Screaming like a banshee. And flattened himself safely against the doorframe.

"OI," Tyson bellowed, alongside Max's laughter, and together the two jumped to intercept Daichi's attack, succeeding just enough to send the Dragon-bearer off course and into a wall. "MIND YOUR MANNERS WE HAVE COMPANY."

"YEAH NO SHIT," Daichi replied, rebounding into Tala's already much-abused personal space.

Despite Max and Tyson cheerfully trying to drag him back by his ankles, Daichi planted himself firmly on the Russian's legs, buried his fists in his scarf, and scowled up at Tala with a cold-red face the epitome of perturbed. "YOU ASS."

Tala's expression had iced over. "Pardon?"

"Oh don't even try playing dumb! You've been gone for ages, you _ASS_! When did you plan on e-mailing or calling or something you could have been DEAD."

Tala recovered, widening his eyes. Blinking entirely fabricated surprise at Tyson and Max, who now stood awkwardly by, chuckling, scratching the back of their heads. Max had one of Daichi's shoes in his hand.

Tala pointed a long, sharp finger at Daichi. Jabbed him with it. "He missed me?"

Daichi blushed hard, muttering denials, and couldn't have scuttled away to hide behind Max fast enough… as though that served some kind of purpose. Oh please, Kai and Tala thought simultaneously. Kai was watching Rei, though, who stood in the doorway of his kitchenette holding up a mostly-full container of fish food, face a question mark.

Kai frowned and gestured meaninglessly with one hand, which maybe, if Rei knew Kai at all, was something confrontational like, 'Well? What are you gonna do about it?'

Rei thought a middle finger would have been more effective.

"I DIDN'T MISS YOU YOU JUST MIGHT HAVE BEEN DEAD OKAY?"

For the first time noticeable in the door of the apartment, Hilary interjected, "Hooookay, let's calm it down a few notches, huh, mister. Damn you're shrill when you're on the defensive!" Her face was, as ever, stormy disapproval when she looked at Daichi (or was that her examining the Spartan state of Kai's abode?), and, as ever, Daichi (still blushing) stuck out his tongue in response.

"Nobody asked you, old hag!"

Hilary lunged, but Max, laughing amusement that wasn't half as forced as it should have been, cut her off and started piling both of the bickering teenagers back out the door.

"Cummmon, Kai, hurry up and get dressed for winter! I have a surprise to show you!" Max said, winking, much to Kai's immediate irritation.

What if he didn't _want_ to go out with them? What if he wanted to stay in there with the blinds drawn and pretend nothing festive was happening the whole world over?

"You can't force me to be festive," Kai ground out.

"Wanna bet?" Tyson pleasantly replied, holding out Kai's winter coat retrieved from the corner, a hint of devious promise in his eyes… Not like Tala completely calm; more like Tyson completely, insanely, sure of himself. Kai felt nauseous. And there was Rei, who'd somehow found his scarf and gloves, standing there holding them out to him.

Kai turned around to get a look at Tala's scornful face, and there it was about a foot away from his own, all predatory curling smiles and flashing-cold eyes. Kai recoiled. In Tala's hands were his boots. This bastard—ganging up on him?

"You heard them, Kai," Tala drawled, "Time to go. I've never seen you festive before, have I?"

"It's a thing to behold," Rei assured.

Now Tyson held Kai's coat and scarf and gloves. Or rather wore the scarf, and held the coat and gloves. Kai snatched them away, snarling, putting his layers on hastily all the better to get his fucking SCARF back before TYSON DARTED OUT THE EFFING DOOR uuuuggggh—"TYSON."

No good, the fire-escape was clattering more loudly than it ever had before, and Tyson's victorious war-whoops bounced up into his ears. Kai sat on the table and began pulling on his boots, filled with the usual hate that accompanied dutiful actions.

He was vaguely aware, through a dark cloud of murderous intent, that Tala had already left the apartment. And then there was Rei, coming and looping Tyson's tinseled red and gold tree-decoration a few times around Kai's neck and chuckling, "Merry Christmas, Kai," and then going outside, trotting down the fire-escape to the street where the Bladebreakers had reconvened singing and some dog or other had recommenced barking.

Kai snorted betrayal after him, after the sentiment.

He stood, stepped out into the snowy wind and pulled the door shut behind him. Paused to lock up. Caught a glimpse of the tinsel dangling over his own shoulder.

Fuck every last one of them.

* * *

"Do you think Kai is overwhelmed?"

"Dude, you just stuck a puppy in his arms. He's in fricking heaven."

"Well it's not like I _gave _him the puppy. It's still my puppy. I think."

"Good luck getting her back!"

The dog barked a lot. And when she wasn't barking she was licking, or chewing. And she liked to chew on Kai's fingers whenever they came close enough to catch, smoothing over her sand-colored fur. Her breed was indeterminate. He didn't particularly care. He only cared that because of Tyson's damned tinsel, he couldn't let her near his face for a kiss, because she'd start chewing on the fucking decoration and DIE.

Kai muttered gently in the puppy's direction, and she accordingly flailed in his arms, snapping at his evasive fingers in good-natured exasperation. He tried to catch her wandering brown eyes and make a serious inquiry after her name, but she apparently took after Max in terms of attention span. As in, she had none.

"What's he saying to her?"

"I think he just asked her name."

Tala snorted.

"Hey shut up, I think it's cute!"

"Dude, it's 'Cortez'!"

Kai, already lagging behind the group, stopped in his tracks. "What?"

Max was walking backwards, watching him, smiling more widely than ever, if that was even physically _possible_. His face might as well have been hinged in the middle. "Like a muppet," Kai muttered at Cortez, starting to walk again, as Max and Tyson came to his sides to fawn over the puppy.

"Her name is Cortez!" Max repeated, leaning into her face and adopting the tone of voice grown-ups use around preschoolers, "_I think it's adorable_…" Much to Kai's satisfaction, Cortez bit Max on the nose.

Max laughed, "H-hey!"

Tyson laughed, "I know where you're coming from, dog, believe me."

Rei, Hilary, Kenny, and Daichi quit making small-talk and just laughed in general. Tala stared around at the others with that face too much like a smile to be real. He was lying. Only when he looked at Kai was there that truth of scorn, and calculation, and a face that couldn't decide on much of any emotion.

He'll use this situation against me in the future, Kai thought. He hid a smile in the dog's fur. Pulling back with a soft tut when she went for the tinsel.

That was fine. He could use this situation against the captain of the Blitzkrieg Boys too, couldn't he, little girl puppy, with Daichi trailing next to Tala's right hand like he was about to grab it at any moment but exacting a great force of will resisting the urge. And Tala actually _not_ moving it out of his reach. Exacting a great force of will resisting the urge, no doubt.

It was no different, was it, little girl, than holding a puppy, only in the opposite sense. If Tala meant to punish him for honesty, he'd have to punish Tala for lying. It was hardly worth it. You had to know when it was worth it.

Anyway there were more important things. Kai thought Cortez was a pretty stupid name for this particular dog. But he couldn't come up with a reaction quite violent _enough_—to such insults as that and also the lights strung dazzlingly _everywhere_ and people running around shopping and being merry and bright, or stumbling around drunken: celebrating coworkers identifiable by their rumpled business attire and affinity for Christmas carols butchered in cold blood, and Beethoven's Ninth projected into the street every two buildings or so, and the snow swirling coldly in what felt like every direction at once, not falling, just swirling—so at the moment he just wasn't. Reacting.

He waited for Max and Tyson to stop petting before he resumed. Trying to fix the damage Tyson had caused putting all the fur askew…

"Kaaaaai do you think it's an adorable name?"

"…Not really, no."

"Scrooge!" Max pouted and ran back ahead, regrouping with Rei, who slung an arm affectionately around his shoulders. Called back, "Tyson you're slacking. Kai isn't _nearly_ festive enough."

"I know, right? But he'll crack eventually. Always has before!"

"You're all arrogant sons of bitches, you know that."

"Don't deny it, Kai! You're clearly already resigned to your fate. You're still wearing the decoration I gave you!"

"And he's already made such progress. Swear to God he keeps smiling 'cause of Cortez and pretending NOT to."

"You know every time he sneers I kind of have the sneaking suspicion he's disguising a smile. Like—I mean _every time _he sneers. Like in life."

"Ah, you're not alone! I get that impression a lot too!"

"Nice, nice, seconded. Third, anyone, anyone gonna third me?"

"Sure, Tyson, I'm always happy to support your delusions!"

"Hilary, why you gotta be such a killjoy all the time, huh? Seriously, SUCH a killjoy."

Kai supposed he should jettison the puppy before they got much further into the business district. Sooner or later they'd be recognized, and the cameras would be out, and he'd have to see some embarrassing candid of himself cuddling a puppy on a website or in a tabloid—not that he looked at any of those, but ever since by some act of Satan they'd found out where he lived, Hilary and Tyson always made such a point of acquiring clippings and prints and _taping _them to his door or sliding them cryptically through the mail slot.

They liked rubbing it in. And then he had to burn the evidence and he had a feeling burning all these photos didn't produce the healthiest fumes.

Everyone had this thing with "humanizing" the in_hu_manly badass Kai Hiwatari. And this wasn't a side of himself he particularly wanted known. PETA would start calling with sponsorship offers and—… People who had something _real _on you were just the biggest pains in the ass. Bladebreakers case and point. Something to do with Lake Baikal.

Kai had no choice… after all, somebody had just pointed at Tyson and Ty had of course shouted, "That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I am HE, the one, the only, WORLD BEYBLADE CHAMPION, love me love me love me—" before Hilary beat him round the head and Daichi thought to protest 'the one the only' part.

"I hate glory hounds, Tessu," Kai muttered gently at the puppy tucked into his arms, who snapped her head up to look at him, and almost managed to catch his nose in her teeth. Kai smiled a bit, before he could stifle it completely. "Don't grow up to be one, please."

Kai caught up to the rest of the group and, in a markedly business-like, all-the-while-walking transaction, thrust Cortez back in the direction of Max.

Max blinked and received her with a cuddle—"Helllooo, Tezzzinnnaaa,"—which Kai was jealous over the ease of—and Max unzipped his coat, wrapping the snapping, squirming puppy inside and zipping it back up so her face poked out just under his chin, body propped on his crossed arms.

She bit and licked wantonly up at her owner, Max just laughing. "She's so impolite! Like somebody else we know, huh, Rei?"

"Impolite among other things; an animal lover who can't even stand to be seen with animals, tsk." Rei had noticed then. The act, the lie. Well he always did; the Bladebreakers themselves weren't worth the effort, mostly because they knew him too well by now, but the Public. Sometimes it was worth putting up a certain inhuman front just to keep the Public off your ass. Not that it had ever worked before.

Particularly with Rei calling him out. One of Kai's hands kind of twitched, and Rei smiled coolly, still thinking the middle finger would have been more effective.

While the Hiwatari was fuming, and Tyson was distracted by fans, Rei freed Kai of his tinseled Christmas decoration bonds and wrapped them around his own neck. "There see, now it's safe to give Cortez a kiss. You'll never get another chance like this, Kai."

Kai watched him. Then looked vaguely at Tessu. She looked imperiously back. Kai didn't really want to, under these circumstances. For one thing the Public would see and he'd never hear the end of it, and for another the dog's face was like three inches below Max's. That was an amount of proximity that set off alarm bells in his brain.

On the other hand Rei was daring him to do it, and Rei clearly didn't expect him to do it, tell the truth like that, he was being so smug. And Max didn't either, because even though he was glancing back and forth between the two of them, his grin hadn't faded in the slightest. It was always such good s_port _when Kai's public face collided head-long with his private one, wasn't it?

Kai, walking backwards now, abruptly darted forward, grabbed Max's chin in one hand and pulled his face to the side so it was less in the _way_, took the lapel of Max's orange ski jacket in the other, and planted an unmistakable _kiss _on Tessu's face.

And then he whirled away and headed to the front of the group, in a barrage of camera flashes that he'd be regretting tomorrow.

Even the puppy had seemed surprised… Kai tried not to think about what that might have looked like from a particular angle, if you couldn't see the dog (Tyson and Hilary's mouths agape at whatever they'd caught was worrying enough), but how much damage was this going to cause his reputation as inhumanly badass, again?—Ugh, fuck them all.

Nevertheless—Kai smiled a little in (equal parts) victory (and cruel voyeuristic possibility: because there was Daichi now gripping Tala's hand _very_ determinedly, as they walked together, and Tala very determined to_ let_ him). Nevertheless he'd proven Rei wrong. He _could _on occasion tell the truth in public. You just had to know when it was worth it, and Kai had never ever been able to resist dashing expectations.

"Sooo…Kisses are festive."

"Yeah they are."

* * *

At the Mizuhara house, where there was a Christmas tree and apparently that was important, Tala had been complacent about the Pocky and hot chocolate.

He tried them together very expressionlessly, and looked around, and they'd leaned in close waiting for the verdict, and he'd shrugged. And that had of course plunged Tyson into moping and darkness, until Tala had suggested they try the strawberry kind with..? At which point Tyson had been delighted and rewarded Tala with the gold and red tinsel-streamer-thing Kai hated so very, very much, wrapping it around his neck and Tala had smiled at him oh, so, indulgently.

Maybe Tala thought the Kinomiya deserved to be thrown a bone. After all, when Tyson had seen Tala's hand limp but accommodating clasped in Daichi's, he'd tried to hang for himself onto Kai's arm, but Kai had smacked him hollowly on the ear and he'd been deterred. Momentarily. And then he'd tried again and been smacked again, at which point Tyson had called Kai some really colorful names, and Kai had tried to take his scarf back, and nearly choked Tyson in the process… Kai supposed, retrospectively, that it really was an abusive relationship.

But that was fine; really, what relationship wasn't.

Maybe Tala was just trying to piss Kai off by getting the 'breakers to like him better. It wouldn't work. He couldn't get mad at them liking an_ act_—and Kai knew an act when he saw one: Tala having arranged himself in the living room as though _languid_, decorated like a tree—yet privately tense from head to toe, too scared to remove a single layer of clothing even though it was warm inside—because Tala didn't always or even often understand. What they were getting at, playing their human games with him.

People were always trying to humanize the inhumanly badass Tala Ivanov, and Kai could tell it was a big pain in the ass for him, concealing everything _true_.

Tala did not trust the Bladebreakers like Kai did. But he might as well have, they weren't the Public after all. They'd rub your nose in it, but they wouldn't abandon or abuse you because of it. But Tala hadn't been sincere with them all night. Kai could tell first off because there weren't any black eyes or split lips. There hadn't been any death threats either, or calm that meant promise. And Tala clearly wasn't happy with the state of things, what with Tyson sitting against his side, tinsel-scarf shared round both their necks, too much familiarity, and it was so hard for Tala not to let everybody know that.

Tala had smiled, despite himself, despite wanting to wretch and run, even when they said, "Well, we know Kai's weakness: small furry creatures. Now we'll just have to discover Tala's. You think it might be Daichi?" Smiled though he wanted to kill them. How terrible and tiring Kai knew, for a fact, that smile was.

Tala's face that couldn't decide. Tala's eyes that were scornful. The way he hadn't held Daichi's hand back. _That_ was the truth.

And that was nothing to be jealous of, Kai thought to Cortez, clucking her over to where he sat on the floor, listening to the small-talk of his loved ones, offering her a hand to chew. Withdrawing it quickly, pissing her off. Provoking her into trying again and grabbing one of her paws instead. Poking her in the side when she snapped at him.

He and the puppy fought gently, and though Kai disliked the eyes of his friends and how they felt so loving, and saw something so familiar, and he didn't like to do things they appreciated because it produced the same feelings in him as doing his duty, and though he still had to fight not to lie, every day, resist saying, 'I don't want this' when the truth was he _did_...

It was something real, and he supposed that was why Max had manipulated him like this. To give them an opportunity to love him for more than an act, for different reasons than the Public. To give him an opportunity to trust them.

Yeah well, my Tessu, fuck every last one of them. He couldn't think of a reaction to_ that_ quite _violent _enough, so he opted not to react. Even though Kai really did hate them when they showed up at his apartment like that and rubbed it in.

In any case, looking at Daichi presenting Tala with a piece of the Christmas cake Max's father had brought home, and looking at Tala with eyes that softened and a smile that twitched wider, over the top of this tension, this deeper vein of confusion and numbness, Kai was fine with Tala scorning him for telling the truth. Because he had his own ammunition to use here, of a lie that maybe got out of hand?

Pretty soon they'd end up loving him and what would Tala do then?

Maybe just try to deter them with the truth. Smack them around a little. Not that that had ever worked for Kai.

And it was going to be such good sport for them, forcing Tala's public face to collide with his private face. Kisses and double-dog-dares. Rubbing it in that they had something_ real_ on him. He and Kai were going to wind up in the same boat… And tomorrow, Tala was really going to hate the memory of himself being festive.

the END

* * *

_A/N_: Did Kenny have a single line? Why no, I don't believe he did. Did I do that on purpose? _No_... which might make having forgotten about him sadder. Poor stupid Kenny. Not as poor, however, as poor stupid Kai. And soon enough poor stupid Tala. Because nobody gets out of that gauntlet alive! Also, I don't even know what B flat sounds like. Also, it makes sense to me that Daichi should always react to the concept of Tala by speaking in caps. Also, yes Max, Cortez is a cute name for a puppy.

Besides that, and an energetic round of apologizing to **feather-duster** for not being around, or writing enough here, because school, you know, it's killing me, but I promise I'm still working on the big-fic at the very LEAST and I promise one of these years, man, it's gonna be _good_, assuming it ever gets off the ground, eh, but it will, because it has to, because it owns me, and I promise I'm trying to write drabbles, and hopefully because there's sunlight and it's Spring now I'll get some good ideas, and I read your most recent Bry & Brooke story and loved it. I was lurking, but I'll try to review more.

Besides reassuring everybody that I haven't died or lost interest in this fandom, and I'm doing the best I can and I hope everybody else does the best they can, because seeing new story alerts in my email inbox has made me grin, so widely, this semester when I've been so stressed out… Besides thanking the writers who still write about beyblade, and the writers who still think about beyblade even if they aren't writing… Besides saying thank you, and I love you, I guess that's about all I have to say.

Woo, Christmasfic during the Springtime. How 'bout that. So, thank you a lot for reading.


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